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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29847555">I saw the scars</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeatrixJames/pseuds/BeatrixJames'>BeatrixJames</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Emotional Hurt, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, hinny talks, missing moment hbp</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 23:06:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,456</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29847555</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeatrixJames/pseuds/BeatrixJames</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It's an average Quidditch practice, until things go slightly wrong and secrets are revealed.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>37</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I saw the scars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hello! This is my first post on archive of our own, I'm still getting the hang of things on here so bear with me! This is a one shot that I wrote a while ago but edited and decided to post, I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>3 months.</p>
<p>It had been 3 months and she had never looked more beautiful. It was her hair that had first caught his attention. Red to the average person but to him it was a plethora of different shades one could only see if they looked closely enough.</p>
<p>Harry, of course, had looked very closely and had therefore noticed the way that the sun danced on the strands and revealed the golden highlights hidden beneath the red.</p>
<p>He was still watching her hair now, 3 months later, at Quidditch practice. He could see her shouting at Mclaggen. Merlin, he hated Mclaggen. Always thinking he knew what everyone should be doing. This was their first practice together with him subbing in for Ron and he was acting like a complete twat, this was one of the reasons why he wasn’t on the team normally.</p>
<p>Harry could imagine the angry stare Ginny was giving him with those chocolate brown eyes. The way that the golden specks glimmered when the sun caught them. Harry shook himself back to the present as he concentrated on the practice game. </p>
<p>Ginny was facing Mclaggen and the goal posts as she gave him an angry speech. He gazed on, flying in midair, at the way her eyebrows scrunched together and she gestured with her hands. He chuckled when she began pointing at her head and he heard her yell, “Use your brain you nitwit! We all know what we’re doing so leave us alone and sort yourself out!” </p>
<p>Harry was still staring at her as he heard the whoosh of a bludger rush past him, straight for Ginny. He vaguely heard someone call out behind him but he didn’t stop to listen. Without really contemplating what he was doing, he willed his firebolt to go faster than the ball. He didn't really care if it hit him, he was more than used to having a few bruises, he just didn't want it to hurt her. He mentally cringed at how pathetic he sounded.</p>
<p>He watched as he overtook the bludger and stopped abruptly in front of Ginny. He felt a crack in his shoulder and paint shot through his arm. He looked down and thought it looked a little odd, like it was just hanging there. He winced but quickly turned, despite the terrible pain it caused his arm, to see Ginny bump head first into one of the goal posts. She stumbled a bit on her broom and lost her balance. She started flailing about but managed to catch herself quickly enough, although she still looked a little unsteady. Within seconds Harry was there. </p>
<p>He put an arm, his uninjured one, around her waist to steady her and together they flew down to the ground. Once their feet touched solid ground they looked at each other. Brown met green. Ginny's eyes seemed to glaze over slightly as she stared at him longer but then they became focused and they darkened.</p>
<p>"What the hell happened?" She demanded.</p>
<p>"Are you alright?" Harry asked, searching her up down, using one arm to pat her side a little awkwardly, he had never been great at comforting people.</p>
<p>"Yeah I’m fine, a bit dizzy but it’ll go. Now would you like to tell me what happened?” She said, moving away from him to put her broom against a broom cupboard.</p>
<p>Harry would be lying if he said his hand didn’t feel a little cold from the loss of contact but he shrugged it off, "It's my fault. I knocked into you, sorry.”  He said, scratching the back of his neck.</p>
<p>"Oh stop with the hero act, you don't have to be so noble all the time, I can take a bludger, I don’t need a man to save me." Ginny said with a raised eyebrow and an eye roll.</p>
<p>Harry smiled back glad to see the colour returning to her face, "I know you don’t need anyone to save you but I wouldn’t have to in the first place if my star chaser had been looking around her." </p>
<p>Ginny scoffed, ignoring the little fluttering in her stomach at hearing him call her his star chaser,  "Oh please you and I both know McClaggen needed to be told off. I swear that bloody boy drives me insane! Leave it to my git of a brother to get poisoned and make us use Mclaggen." </p>
<p>Harry stared at her for a second before replying with a grin, "Yeah honestly, couldn't he have waited until the summer when we don't have a match against Ravenclaw? What's his problem?"</p>
<p>Ginny looked relieved that Harry had carried on her joke and she smiled "Well I guess we'll just have to make do with-" she raised an eyebrow at Mclaggen who was talking to a furious Katie Bell about the best way to throw a quaffle "-whatever that is." </p>
<p>Harry snorted softly, getting lost in the way she ran her hand through the strands of hair that had come loose from the long plait down her back. </p>
<p>Harry was about to say something when she lifted his arm and placed it on top of her shoulders. He couldn't help but wince as the pain returned to his arm. White and hot. </p>
<p>He took in a sharp breath and clenched his jaw, trying not to show any other sign of pain.</p>
<p>"Harry? What's wrong?" She asked as she looked up at him.</p>
<p>"Nothing, nothing don't worry Gin let's just keep on walking." He said, giving her a small smile and closing his eyes in an attempt to block out the stabbing pain coming from his shoulder.</p>
<p>"Will you stop that! You're clearly in pain, for merlin's sake Harry let me take you to the hospital Wing!" She said carefully lifting his arm off her. This time Harry made sure to mask his reaction and instead he rolled his eyes at her "Look, I appreciate the concern but I’m fine, really. I think the bludger grazed my shoulder, that's all, it's probably just bruised."</p>
<p>"Bruised my arse, we're gonna go to the hospital Wing and if you don’t cooperate I will levitate you, do not test me Potter." She said with that fiery look she got in her eyes whenever someone- usually boys- tried to tell her she couldn’t do something or when someone challenged her to a race- Harry knew better then to do that.</p>
<p>Once they finally made it to the hospital wing Harry sat on one of the beds as Ginny went to get Madame Pomfrey.  He saw Ron lying a few beds down from him, his chest rising and falling steadily in his sleep. </p>
<p>Harry briefly contemplated sneaking out before Ginny's words echoed in his head 'do not test me Potter'. He sat back down and waited until she came back with the school nurse.</p>
<p>"Of course it's you Potter. Why is it that you can't even go to Quidditch practice without injuring something." She tutted.</p>
<p>"Me and the bludgers- we’ve got a special connection." He said, nodding seriously at Madame Pomfrey although he snuck a wink at Ginny who rolled her eyes but gave a small smirk as well. Harry gave her a lopsided grin just as he felt a hot pain in his arm again and he closed his eyes, fighting not to wince.</p>
<p>"Definitely broken and the arm has detached from the socket, take off your shirt Potter." </p>
<p>Harry was in too much pain to properly process what was happening as he attempted to lift his arms but he quickly realised it wasn't going to work. Madame Pomfrey huffed out a breath and waved her wand, his shirt vanished quickly. She walked away quickly to her office to grab some potions and whatever other medical aid she would need. </p>
<p>Ginny frowned. There were two noticeable things she saw, one, he was very slim. She already knew that, however seeing the outline of his ribs shocked her more than she thought it would. </p>
<p>Her frown deepened upon seeing thin scars along his abdomen. Some were faded and a pale colour against his dark skin, others looked newly healed. Her thoughts raced as she tried to think of an explanation for the scars but her mind kept coming to one conclusion, a conclusion that made her skin crawl, she felt a cold fury take over her as thought of what Harry could possibly have gone through. </p>
<p>She knew he had had a… difficult life, to put it simply. She had seen the burns that lined his arms and the odd scar she saw along his neck or leg and of course, his perpetually bruised knees however she had never thought much of it, assuming he was just clumsy and had bad luck.  </p>
<p>At that moment, Harry looked up to her, face tight from the pain. He saw the expression of rage on her face and followed her eyes downward, to his stomach. </p>
<p>His heart stopped in his chest as he saw what she was looking at. He panicked, no one was supposed to see them. How had he been so careless to let Ginny, Ginny of all people, see them? </p>
<p>He closed his eyes and concentrated hard on the scars, imagining his skin without the blemishes. They quickly faded, leaving his olive skin smooth as it should be. </p>
<p>Ginny’s eyes widened. What happened? There were scars there before, she was sure of it. She took a step forward, ready to confront him when-</p>
<p>"Drink this. It’s for the pain.” Madame Pomfrey handed him a steaming purple potion which Harry diligently drank with only a slight grimace. </p>
<p>Madam Pomfrey traced her wand along Harry's arm slowly, a complicated incantation escaping her lips as she concentrated.  </p>
<p>“I've fixed the broken bones and put your arm back in place but it'll still be a little sore and I'm going to need you to stay the night here." Madame Pomfrey said while bandaging his arm and shoulder and gesturing for him to lay on the bed. </p>
<p>He lay back cautiously, careful  to avoid too much movement on his arm. “This is a sleep potion, I suggest you take it, it’ll help with the healing process.”</p>
<p>Harry nodded stiffly, eyes not meeting Ginny. Madame Pomfrey handed him back his shirt, which he quickly pulled on and she left quickly after that.  Ginny cast a quick silencing charm around them before turning round to face him again.</p>
<p>“Right what was that?” She said, hands on hips.</p>
<p>“What was what?” Harry asked, eyes still downcast onto his hands.</p>
<p>“Well either I’m hallucinating or you’ve become really good at wandless magic.” </p>
<p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”</p>
<p>“I saw the scars Harry, talk to me.” Ginny said, voice low and gentler than before.</p>
<p>Harry shook his head emphatically, glasses slipping down his nose at the movement. </p>
<p>“Harry please, I can help you.” She pleaded.</p>
<p>He cleared his throat and then finally looked up at her, there was no emotion in his face, it was a mask concealing whatever he was really feeling. “It’s nothing, really.” </p>
<p>“I don’t believe you.” Was all she responded with. She needed to get to the bottom of whatever this was.</p>
<p>“Ginny. I said it’s nothing, drop it, please.” He spoke, swallowing hard.</p>
<p>“I’m not dropping it until you tell me what’s really going on.” She crossed her arms over her chest as if to show him that she meant what she said.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to talk about it!” He said, voice rising.</p>
<p>“So there is something to talk about then?” She pressed, hopeful to get something out of him. </p>
<p>Ginny knew how Harry coped with grief. He shut down, getting trapped in his own head and convincing himself that every bad thing that had ever happened was somehow his fault. He never talked to anyone about whatever he was going through, preferring to take the suffer in silence option. Ginny also knew how detrimental this was to him and she was determined to not let him spiral in his dark thoughts, even if that meant getting him angry enough to shout at her.</p>
<p>“No- I- I didn’t mean that.” He let out a frustrated grown, rubbing his eyes underneath his glasses and looking away from her.</p>
<p>“Just tell me Harry! I can help you.” She tried again, losing hope that he would say anything.</p>
<p>Then suddenly his head snapped up to meet her gaze, “Fine! What do you want me to say? My Uncle hits me? Is that it? That when he’s angry he takes it out on me? Well there you go, I hope you're happy.” </p>
<p>Silence.</p>
<p>Harry's heavy breathing was the only thing breaking the perfect quiet, his hard gaze not leaving hers until he had finished and realised what he said. His breath hitched, hand flying up to his hair from habit.</p>
<p>He looked around quickly to check if Ron was awake or if Madame Pomfrey had heard him.</p>
<p>“I put a silencing charm around us, they didn’t hear anything.” Ginny said quietly. </p>
<p>She had assumed that he had suffered some sort of emotional abuse from his home life, and after seeing the scars along his body she had come to the conclusion that the abuse may not have just been emotional, but hearing him say it still caused a physical pain in her chest.</p>
<p>She swallowed thickly before taking a seat at the edge of his hospital bed. There were still things she needed to talk to him about and breaking out into tears would not help either of them.</p>
<p>“I don’t want your pity.” Harry said suddenly, looking out the window onto the grounds. </p>
<p>“I’m not going to give you pity.” Ginny said, following his gaze outside. </p>
<p>His head turned to look at her immediately, brows furrowing.</p>
<p>“I’m going to help you.” She added, still looking through the glass.</p>
<p>Help him? Harry wasn’t sure if Ginny knew how much those words meant to him, even if there wasn’t much she could do. <br/>She hadn’t looked at him in disgust and called him weak. She hadn’t said meaningless words, ‘I’m so sorry.’ or ‘Oh no, that must be difficult.’. She hadn’t asked him to recount every time he had been punched or hit by his Uncle’s belt. </p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>She had offered to help.</p>
<p>“How can you help me?” Harry asked, looking down at his bed sheets.</p>
<p>“I’ll help in any way I can.” She said quietly.</p>
<p>He let out a broken laugh although it didn't last long, “There’s nothing you can do, I have to go back and unless I suddenly lose my magic and turn normal or I don’t know become a cat, they’re not going to treat me any better.”  Even if I do turn into a squib or a cat they probably wouldn’t be any nicer. He thought.</p>
<p>“I’m not going to let them hurt you!” Ginny suddenly said, louder. She looked at him with a fiery protectiveness in her eyes. </p>
<p>“Gin-”</p>
<p>“No, Harry. I know there isn’t much I can directly do but this is serious-”</p>
<p>“I’m fine, honestly!” He tried to reason with her.</p>
<p>“No you're not! They hurt you! They hurt you, and I’ll make them pay for that even if I have to do it myself, I won’t let you go through this alone anymore.” There was a fierce determination in her expression that almost made him believe it- he wanted to.</p>
<p>He had thought about what leaving the Dursley’s would be like. He imagined it, dreamt about it and finally, on his eleventh birthday, he thought that maybe, just maybe, his dream would become reality. </p>
<p>When Hagrid had taken him away he had allowed a flower of hope to bloom inside of him, with every new part of the wizarding world he saw, the flower grew and he could almost taste freedom from the house that would never be a home to him. A house that held enough bad memories to give him nightmares for the rest of his life. A house that was more like a prison than a home.</p>
<p>Then suddenly, the flower had wilted. The light inside of him dimmed as he learnt that he would have to return to his prison, every year. </p>
<p>Sure, it would be better than before, he could threaten them with his magic at first. But then, they found out that he couldn’t use magic outside of school. That had brought back all of the old hatred, diminishing their fears that he may turn them into frogs if they hurt him.</p>
<p>Then came Sirius, a new thing to threaten the Dursley’s with. But of course, that too didn’t work for long, leaving Harry defencless and at the mercy of his relatives. </p>
<p>“Ginny, I understand that you want to help, but there really isn’t anything that you can do. I can leave after this summer anyway.” I’ll finally be free. He thought- well, free of the Dursleys at least, he still had other worries of course.</p>
<p>Ginny’s jaw tightened as she contemplated what he said. She knew he was right, but knowing that there was nothing that she could do, not much at least, ate away at her.</p>
<p>She hated feeling helpless. It was a feeling she knew all too well. </p>
<p>After her first year and everything that happened with the diary, her family had coddled her and apologized so many times they could have written a book.</p>
<p>Molly acted as if she was a precious doll made of china that would break if a gust of wind ruffled her hair. She was given no chores, nothing to do, wasn’t allowed to play quidditch with her brothers, no. She was told to “Just sit there for a bit, read a book.” It had driven her insane that she didn’t have control over her life, she hated that after a year of being controlled by an evil wizard she was now being controlled by her family, even if they didn’t mean it, or even realise it.</p>
<p>She wanted desperately to help Harry in any way she could, big or small.</p>
<p>“We’ll find a way.” She spoke, looking into his emerald eyes and grasping his hand in her, “There’s always a way.”</p>
<p>Harry tucked his lower lip in between his teeth as he resumed his gaze out the window. </p>
<p>“How- how bad is it?” She asked after a moment of silence.</p>
<p>“Depends on your definition of bad.” </p>
<p>“Harry.” </p>
<p>He sighed, turning back to her, “It’s not that bad, just a slap every once in a while, nothing I can’t manage.” He tried to keep his tone light hearted.</p>
<p>Ginny didn’t buy it. “You don’t get those scars from ‘a slap every once in a while.’” </p>
<p>Harry looked back down.</p>
<p>“I’m here for you Harry, I’m not going anywhere. You can trust me.” She said softly, squeezing his hand gently.</p>
<p>It was something in the way she said. They weren’t just empty words that would break once he told her everything, she wasn’t going to leave him.</p>
<p>“It was bad.” He wanted to continue but the words caught in his throat. Ginny said nothing, only giving his hand another squeeze. </p>
<p>Harry rolled his head back to the ceiling and closed his eyes.</p>
<p>“Sometimes they wouldn’t feed me for days. They’d lock my room and pass leftover food through a cat flap, whenever they remembered, that is. I’d have dedicated time to go to the toilet and shower, that was the only time I was allowed out of my room, other than cleaning and cooking of course.” He spoke of it casually, although admitting the words looked painful to him.</p>
<p>With every word that came out of his mouth, Ginny felt a little piece of her heart break for the young man in front of her. He had never done anything to deserve this life, yet here he was telling her of the abuse he had suffered at the hands of his ‘family’ </p>
<p>She looked over to  him, in his blue striped hospital shirt that stood out against his dark skin. His round glasses and messy, thick hair. She saw that he was shaking as he spoke and   before she could stop herself, she leant over the bed and wrapped her arms around him, careful to avoid his shoulder. </p>
<p>She didn’t think that words would have the power to convey what she felt in that moment but she hoped he understood just a little. </p>
<p>He was stiff against her at first but he quickly relaxed and wrapped his good arm around her back, pulling him closer to her. </p>
<p>“You’re gonna get through this, and I’m going to help you. I promise.” She whispered into his neck. </p>
<p>Harry said nothing but she felt him smile into her neck.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I hope you enjoyed!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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